Suzuya, Takayama

Takayama is a mountaineous city located in the Gifu prefecture. We made a stop over here on our way to the Unesco heritage site, Shirakawa-go. From Tokyo, we boarded the Tokaido Shinkansen towards Nagoya and transferred to the Hida line express train to Takayama. The entire journey took about 4.5hours and the fare was fully covered by our JR Pass. We were fortunate enough to had chosen Country Hotel to put up the night, as the navigation and travel time itself were enough to wear us out. Located right in front of Takayama train station, Country Hotel offered the best accessibility and convenience for us.

Takayama is not very big in size, many attractions are within walking distance. Far from the city hustle and bustle, Takayama is perfect for a dose of feudal age charm, lined with houses, coffee shops and sake breweries that date back to the Edo period.

It was a chilly winter night, we decided to try out the infamous Hida beef in Takayama. Following the travel map, we managed to locate Suzuya on 24, Hanakawachi. The Hida beef sirloin was absolutely top notched. The beef sizzling on the hot plate was packed with flavour. Every mouthful remained juicy and succulent till the end of our meal.

We also ordered the sukiyaki and Hoba miso roasted on Magnolia leaf. Taste wise, it was kind of average. We felt that the miso was a bit too salty.
The Hida beef to me was the best since the beef cheek I had in Yarra Valley a while ago. Its uncommon preparation and ingredients made it even more unparalleled.